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Stock Futures Dip Ahead of Jobless Claims

twocents@thestreet.com (Andrea Tse) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:25 GMT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were dipping slightly Thursday as investors awaited the latest initial jobless claims data and more details on the European Central Bank and Bank of England's policy updates.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were falling 21 points, or 20 points below fair value, at 12,822. Futures for the S&P 500 were down 3.6 points, or 3.3 points below fair value, at 1343, and futures for the Nasdaq were off 6 points, or 4.2 points below fair value, at 2539.

Stocks finished higher Wednesday as the market digested news that the ECB remains divided over how it will contribute to a Greek debt restructuring and as Prime Minister Lucas Papademos began negotiations with Greek political leaders. ...

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Bank of England Injects More QE Into U.K. Economy

twocents@thestreet.com (The Associated Press) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:15 GMT

LONDON -- The Bank of England is injecting another 50 billion pounds ($79 billion) into the British economy, which contracted in the last three months of 2011.

The new stimulus raises the total monetary stimulus since the program started in March 2009 to 325 billion pounds. ...

Long Waits, Luck Can Get You In These Clubs

twocents@thestreet.com (Michael Martin) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:00 GMT

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (MainStreet) -- For anyone who hasn't been in a nightclub since Studio 54 or The Limelight, a visit to any number of new bars or nightclubs popping up from New York to Los Angeles wouldn't look all that different from back in the day -- at least from the outside.

At many of these new clubs, you'll have a long time to contemplate that -- as you wait in line to get in. After becoming the most exclusive nightclub in Southeast Europe, The Bamboo nightclub is making its way to Miami Beach via Bucharest.

Take Le Baron, widely considered to be one of the world's top nightlife brands. Owner Andre Sariva recently debuted an eagerly awaited New York installment of his original Paris nightclub (there's also an outpost in Tokyo and pop-up locations that trail the elite from Art Basel Miami Beach to Cannes). In late January the proprietor, also the man behind New York's Le Bain atop the Standard Hotel New York, opened the starry Le Baron along Mulberry Street in New York's Chinatown. ...

3 Ex-Dividend Stocks With Buy Ratings

twocents@thestreet.com (Alexandra Zendrian) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:44 GMT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The following stocks go ex-dividend Friday, meaning an investor must purchase the shares Thursday to qualify for the next dividend payment: Wisconsin Energy, Mine Safety Appliances and CA.

The three stocks received a buy rating from TheStreet Ratings.

See the complete Dividend Calendar. ...

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The Chinese Consumer is Alive and Well

twocents@thestreet.com (Lindsey Bell and Stephanie Link) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:30 GMT

Stephanie Link, director of research for TheStreet, discusses how some consumer product companies are performing so well in China.

Market Morning: Flat Start as Greece Talks Stall

twocents@thestreet.com (Joseph Woelfel) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:28 GMT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures signaled a flat to lower Wall Street open while European shares gained Thursday despite an uncertain future for a €130 billion Greece bailout.

Talks in Athens stalled early Thursday after the three parties backing Greece's coalition government failed to accept the entire batch of new harsh austerity measures demanded by creditors, The Associated Press reported. ...

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Congress Needs to Focus on Velocity, says Bank CEO

twocents@thestreet.com (Michelle Cerone) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:15 GMT

With jobs on the rebound, Tom Geisel, CEO of Sun National Bank talks about what congress needs to do to get financing from local banks in the hands of small businesses.

Capital One to Test Fed's 'Too Big To Fail' Cred

twocents@thestreet.com (Antoine Gara) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:12 GMT

NEW YORK(TheStreet) - "Too big to fail" will get better definition as the Federal Reserve rules on Capital One Financial's proposed $9 billion acquisition of ING's U.S. online banking unit ING Direct on Monday, following a delay.

If the Fed were to reject the acquisition, which would make Capital One the fifth largest bank by assets in the U.S. to JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup, it would signal that the "systemically important financial institution" designation of the 2010 Dodd Frank Act may extend to a new range of large but not titanic sized U.S. lenders, putting industry consolidation in doubt. For Capital One, the deal breakup would cast a pall on its growth prospects. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke

The June deal is the largest U.S. bank acquisition yet to face regulatory inquiry into mergers that considers systemic risk in consolidation attempts, as post-crisis laws like the Dodd Frank Act seek to make the banking system less of a threat to the wider economy. ...

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Bank of America's Worst-Case Scenario Gets More Real

twocents@thestreet.com (Dan Freed) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:06 GMT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Bank of America just saw the heat turned up again in its multipronged, multibillion-dollar legal battle over problem mortgages, according to an analyst report published Wednesday.

The latest trouble for the banking giant is a decision by MBIA to "cross-appeal" a judge's ruling last month that was widely interpreted as being favorable to the bond insurer in its legal battle with Bank of America. MBIA filed its cross-appeal in New York State Supreme Court on Monday.

MBIA has accused Bank of America's Countrywide home loan unit of fraud and breach of contract related to 15 mortgage securities. On Jan. 3, New York State Supreme Court Justice Eileen Bransten ruled MBIA does not need to prove claims payments it has made on the securities were a direct result of the alleged misrepresentations. ...

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Clawbacks Will Leave Minor Scratches on Wall Street

twocents@thestreet.com (Shanthi Bharatwaj) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:03 GMT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- UBS on Tuesday became the first investment bank to announce a major "clawback" of bonuses after a rogue trading scandal at the Swiss bank last year led to deep losses.

The announcement closely followed recent disclosures by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley that clarified that they had the right to recover previously awarded bonuses from any employee under certain triggers, such as a financial restatement due to bad trades or ethical misconduct.

Given the intense regulatory and political pressure on banks to rein in hefty bonuses that encourage excessive risk taking -- as well as what is undeniably a difficult operating trading environment -- will clawbacks soon become a common reality on Wall Street? ...

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Pepsi Earnings vs. Coke

twocents@thestreet.com (Lindsey Bell ) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:00 GMT

Pepsi's earnings will reveal the company's plans to address market share loss to Coca-Cola.

China ETFs Navigate Tricky Housing Bubble

twocents@thestreet.com (Don Dion) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:00 GMT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- When it comes to global investing, one of the biggest and most closely watched stories over the past few years has been China's handling of its red hot housing industry.

This week, it appears as though a new chapter has begun to take shape. While interesting to watch, this is a story that conservative ETF investors would likely be best off following from the sidelines.

Fearing a bubble, government officials have taken a myriad of steps to reign in the breakneck growth of the real estate market. In the past, these proposed policies, which have included higher down payments, bans on third-home purchases, and placing limits on bank lending, had little impact on cooling expansion. ...

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Why China-Bashing Is Not a Good Strategy

twocents@thestreet.com (Kathleen Brush) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:00 GMT

The following commentary comes from an independent investor or market observer as part of TheStreet's guest contributor program, which is separate from the company's news coverage.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- China-bashing is back with a vengeance. American politicians know that voters love this type of tough talk. They also love a bogeyman that can be fingered for the nation's economic ills. Red China, the last bastion of the evil communists is a perfect Darth Vader-like replacement for America's former arch nemesis, the Soviet Union. There it lurks manipulating its currency, stealing intellectual property, aiding U.S. enemies, abusing human rights and causing America's trade deficit. So what if this takes China out of context, most Americans don't know that.

The Chinese have made it clear that they don't like the rhetoric, except when it can be repurposed into rhetoric on the dangers of democracy and individual freedoms. For example, America as a greedy soon to be ex-economic superpower suffering from capitalism gone wild, being led by a failed democratic system that prioritizes opposing points of view over national progress. Add to this a warmongering nation obsessed with military power following in the footsteps that felled the Soviet Union. So what if it takes America out of context, most Chinese don't know that. ...

Growing Too Fast: Stocks Under $5

twocents@thestreet.com (David Peltier) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:45 GMT

David Peltier takes a look at a telecom stock that's growing too quickly to turn a profit.

Stocks to Watch: Cisco, Groupon, Pepsi

twocents@thestreet.com (Joseph Woelfel) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:34 GMT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Dow component Cisco Systems, the networking-equipment maker, topped analysts' earnings expectations and raised its quarterly dividend by more than 30%.

Cisco reported non-GAAP earnings of $2.6 billion, or 47 cents a share, in its fiscal second quarter on revenue of $11.5 billion.

Analysts were expecting Cisco to report earnings of 43 cents a share on revenue of $11.23 billion. ...

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Utilities, Consumer Stocks Remain Strong, Says Hennessy

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:30 GMT

Neil Hennessy, portfolio manager for the Hennessy Focus 30,

Attacks On Private Equity Unjust, Says Author

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:15 GMT

Ziad Abdelnour, author of Economic Warfare, defends private equity and explains how the U.S. government is waging war against America's wealth creators.

Silicon Motion Bulls Bet on a Bounce

twocents@thestreet.com (OptionMonster) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:04 GMT

By David Russell, reporter at OptionMonster

NEW YORK (OptionMonster) -- Silicon Motion Technology has been pulling back from a monster run, and the bulls are stepping in.

OptionMonster's real-time tracking systems detected the purchase of almost 5,000 February 20 calls Wednesday against open interest of just 689 contracts. Most of them traded for 75 cents to 80 cents. ...

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Market Preview: Fearing the Inevitable Pullback

twocents@thestreet.com (Michael Baron) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:30 GMT

Updated from 7:57 p.m. ET to add analyst comment on LinkedIn.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- It's been bulls on parade so far in 2012, and it seems like almost everyone is board with the program.

On Tuesday, Nouriel Roubini, otherwise known as Dr. Doom was reportedly to be down with the thinking that this rally has legs. Wednesday saw Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, tell Bloomberg that he thinks investors should be 100% in equities. ...

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Cisco Earnings: Blog Recap

twocents@thestreet.com (James Rogers) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:40 GMT

Cisco Earnings Live Blog

SAN JOSE, Calif. (TheStreet) -- Investors got further evidence of Cisco's turnaround with the networking giant's robust second-quarter results, released after market close on Wednesday.

With its recent problems fading in the rearview mirror, Cisco reported revenue and earnings of $11.5 billion and 47 cents per share, respectively, up from $10.4 billion and 37 cents per share in the prior year's quarter. Analysts were looking for sales of $11.23 billion and earnings of 43 cents per share. Cisco CEO John Chambers. ...

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Akamai, Groupon, Cisco: After-Hours Trading (Update 1)

twocents@thestreet.com (Michael Baron) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:38 GMT

Updated from 5:11 p.m. ET for latest share prices, additional information on Diamond Foods, TriQuint, iRobot and TripAdvisor.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Akamai Technologies surged in late trades on Wednesday after the Web content delivery company waltzed past Wall Street's profit view for its fiscal fourth quarter.

The Cambridge, Mass.-based company reported normalized net income of $83 million, or 45 cents a share, for the December-ended period on revenue of $323.7 million, up 15% on a sequential basis. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters was for a profit of 40 cents a share in the quarter on revenue of $311.3 million. ...

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'Fast Money' Recap: Cisco's Back

twocents@thestreet.com (David Tong) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:17 GMT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Cisco shares were up in after-hours trading on Wednesday after it posted a strong earnings report.

The networking equipment maker posted a revenue and earnings beat while raising its dividend.

Pete Najarian said on CNBC's "Fast Money" TV show that Cisco has stabilized and is benefiting from a return of enterprise spending. ...

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Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Balancing Act (Final)

twocents@thestreet.com (Scott Rutt) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:41 GMT

Search Jim Cramer's Mad Money trading recommendations using our exclusive Mad Money Stock Screener and watch Jim Cramer's Mad Money Post Game video exclusively on TheStreet.com.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- "Yes, I worry," Jim Cramer told his "Mad Money" TV show viewers Wednesday, as he outlined the concerns that keep him up at night, as well as those that don't. ...

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'Mad Money Lightning Round': Get Some Covidien

twocents@thestreet.com (Scott Rutt) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:21 GMT

To see the full "Mad Money" Recap, please click here.

...

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Central Bank Liquidity Props Markets: Dave's Daily

twocents@thestreet.com (Dave Fry) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:59 GMT

I would advise most to forget PEs, current earnings and dividends, global economic indicators and even Greece (if only temporarily). The number one factor driving global stock indexes higher are monetary policies and liquidity impact from the three central bank amigos. Sure markets are overbought and volume remains scant. The first condition is readily viewed by any number of respectable indicators: McClellan Summation Index (featured near the end of this posting), DeMark Indicators, Relative Strength Index and so forth). Light volume is due to ongoing investor flight as many sit on their hands. ...

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Diamond Foods Hires Kodak's Adviser

twocents@thestreet.com (Antoine Gara) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:26 GMT

NEW YORK(TheStreet) - The consulting firm that is advising Eastman Kodak on its bankruptcy reorganization is now contributing its financial savvy to Diamond Foods after an audit investigation revealed two years of accounting misstatements at the company, leading to the dismissal of two top executives.

On Wednesday, Diamond Foods hired Michael Murphy, a managing director at restructuring specialist Alix Partners to be the firm's CFO, replacing Steven Neil effective immediately as part of a sweeping management and board shakeup.

Neil and Michael Mendes, who had served as Diamond Foods' CEO and chairman, have been placed on administrative leave. Board director Rick Wolford was named acting CEO, while independent director Robert Zollars will become the snack foods company's chairman. ...

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Bank of America, HP, United Technologies: Dow Movers

twocents@thestreet.com (Alexandra Zendrian) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:08 GMT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The major U.S. equity indices eked out gains on Wednesday with the European Central Bank divided about the debt restructuring needed in order for Greece to receive another round of bailout money.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 5.75 points, or 0.04%, to 12,883.95 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 increased 2.91 points to 1,349.96 and the Nasdaq Composite posted an 11.78 point gain to close at 2,915.86.

Breadth within the Dow was positive with 16 of the index's 30 components posting gains on Wednesday. Both Alcoa and Verizon ended Wednesday flat. ...

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Groupon Shares Fall on Surprise Loss (Update 1)

twocents@thestreet.com (Olivia Oran) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:56 GMT

Updated from 4:54 p.m. ET to include executive comments.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Groupon shares plummeted nearly 15% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the online daily deals company missed Wall Street's earnings expectations for its fourth-quarter results.

The company, which issued its first quarterly report as a public company since completing its IPO in early November, posted an adjusted loss of $9.8 million, or 2 cents a share. Revenue nearly tripled to $506.5 million. ...

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P&G to Weigh Options for Pringles

twocents@thestreet.com (Alexandra Zendrian) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:52 GMT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Procter & Gamble is considering its options for its Pringles brand after would-be acquirer Diamond Foods said it's restating its financials for the past two years.

Paul Fox, a spokesperson for P&G, said the news of Diamond Foods' restatement and its plans to replace top executives was "very disappointing" and that the company plans to look at its next steps as Pringles is a "very valuable asset" that has garnered interest from other parties.

"We're keeping all options open," Fox said. ...

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8 Sexy Tips for Valentine's Day Savings

twocents@thestreet.com (MoneyTalksNews.com) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:35 GMT

There's nothing sexier than a mate with money. And you'll have more of it by using these simple tips to get maximum romance with minimum cash.